


don't stop doin' what you do

by haipollai



Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Comfort, Gen, Immortal Husbands Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova, M/M, Post-Canon, Prayer, Religion, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-27
Updated: 2020-07-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:02:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25544068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/haipollai/pseuds/haipollai
Summary: It’s been a long time since he prayed, or took the time purposefully to pray. Prayers come easily in those moments from when Joe’s eyes go cold until his next rasping breath. Now, in this moment every prayer he ever learned seems to slip his mind.
Relationships: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova
Comments: 9
Kudos: 180





	don't stop doin' what you do

**Author's Note:**

> Title from Don't Stop by Gin Wigmore

Nicky is coming back from a run when he sees her. She’s a little ways away from the safe house but close enough she can keep an eye on it and they on her, if they knew where to look. He comes to a stop, trying to decide if she needs a shoulder or not. He takes a step closer, purposefully scuffing his toe to ensure she’s not surprised.

Nile’s shoulders tense but otherwise doesn’t react. He takes that as a reluctant acceptance of his presence so he makes his way across the small patch of dirt to kneel beside her. She has her eyes closed and her hands clasped loosely around her cross. After a moment, of him sitting silently, the tension seems to leave her. Nicky lets himself relax as well, knowing he wouldn’t need to be jumping back to his feet in a second.

An easy silence descends over them both. 

It’s been a long time since he prayed, or took the time purposefully to pray. Prayers come easily in those moments from when Joe’s eyes go cold until his next rasping breath. Now, in this moment every prayer he ever learned seems to slip his mind.

Instead he lets his thoughts go silent and he focuses on the sounds around him. They're in France, in a house they had started constructing some point in the 1920s and finished over the next fifty years. There was never a worry of it being found, they were in the strip of land where the Western Front once scarred Europe. The risk of undetonated mines and munitions kept most people far away, even though the team had removed most of them long ago. Occasionally, one of the team wandered too far and would show back up with torn clothes and usually without shoes. There was an ongoing bet for who would be next. 

Now, the wind and the birds create a symphony that reminds him of life before. When it was time for early morning prayers and it was only him and the small church's priest, they would sometimes say the prayers outside, able to watch the beginning of the dawn creep over the hills until day had truly arrived. The noise of people going about their day rarely managed to drift up to them. Sometimes, Nicky felt like the small church and and the entire hill it rested on were cupped in God's hands and held apart from the dirtier world around them.

This moment, in what would charitably be called a glen, has that feeling as well. Slightly separate. 

Out of the corner of his eye he sees Nile peaking at him. Her eyes are half squinted shut, clearly trying to pretend they're still closed. He doesn’t move, doesn't even look her way. Her hands clasp tighter and he can hear her weight shift on the dirt and leaves underneath them both. 

"You don't need to wait for me," he finally murmurs when her fidgeting becomes truly obvious.

She lets out a frustrated sigh and finally looks directly at him. "You're not going to say anything?" She demands. It's not the outburst he necessarily expected, but he has a suspicion of where it's coming from. 

He rocks back on his heels as he shifts to look at her. "I take it Andy said something." She frowns deeply at him but doesn't deny it. He hums softly and gives her a small smile. "I assume the whole," he waves his hand in a vague all encompassing gesture, "I was a god, it is nothing but silliness and lies. Yes?" 

Nile flushes as if embarrassed but cautiously returns his smile. "Yea, something like that." She pauses, seeming to be considering something so he waits. "You get the same I take it?" 

"Oh yes. Repeatedly." He tries to keep the amusement from his voice, but probably fails entirely. "I was a priest you know, if you get Andy in the right mood, debating Andy on theology is a delight." 

"Wait." She holds up one hand and takes a deep breath. "What do I even ask about first?" Nicky smiles wider, and makes the sign up the cross on her palm. It makes her huff like he's a particularly annoying child but she drops her hand. Nile's shoulders are relaxed again and he lets himself feel a small moment of success. "OK. Fine. You said you were a soldier. You fought in the Crusades."

He dips his head in acknowledgment. "I left the priesthood to fight. It seemed…" He pauses to remember the right word in English, and this time it's Nile giving him the space needed. "More holy, I guess."

"So what? They teach you to swing a sword at priest school?" 

He laughs openly at that and shakes his head no. "Soldiers and armies were different then. No standing armies, if there was a call for soldiers, men left their fields to go fight with whatever they had. I was lucky I could afford a sword."

She still seems skeptical, Nicky suspects she will go online to fact check him as soon as they're back inside. 

"But," he continues, "I believe I started questioning my beliefs by the time I reached Byzantine."

"And then you died," she adds softly. "You're always talking about destiny and fate." Her frown is back but seems more curious, like she's focused hard and putting all the pieces she's learned together. 

"Ah, I said questioning." He shifts to sit more comfortably. "Obviously," he gestures at himself, his clothes still damp with sweat and now with bits of dirt clinging to them. He has a knife strapped to his ankle, the hilt just visible above his sock. "I am no longer a priest. I believe less in one all knowing, all powerful being. But I still believe in a higher power or… Forces bigger than us humans."

She nods slowly. "That makes sense." She shoots him a suspicious look but the tension doesn't come back. "Why are you telling me all this?" 

"I want to make sure you know Andy is a grumpy old cynic and you met her in a bad mood. You do not need to be ashamed that you have beliefs." He gets back to his feet and squeezes her shoulder. 

"Thank you." She grabs his arm and uses it to lever herself up. Together, they walk the fifty yards back to the house. Joe is in the doorway and fixes him with a frown.

"Hello, mi amor." He gives his lover his biggest smile.

Joe fights back his smile and wags his finger at Nicky. "Don't you be loving and adorable. You are lucky I could see you from here otherwise I'd be very upset at you for disappearing for hours like that."

Nicky slips his arms around Joe's waist, he catches Nile rolling her eyes at them as she slips past, leaving them alone. Letting him turn his full attention to Joe. He nips at his finger, still held up between them. "I am very," he gives Joe's cheek a light kiss, "very," the other cheek, "sorry." He brushes his lips against Joe's, feeling the way they curl up slowly and Joe nudges back, teasing Nicky's mouth open. 

"OK I forgive you," Joe murmurs as the kiss ends. They stay like that for a long moment, just comfortable in each other's space. 

From somewhere inside the house Nile yells at them to go to their room. 

"I won't ask you know," Joe says as he straightens. Nicky knows, but it is good to hear the little things out loud. 

"It is not me you would ask anyway." He uses his arm, to steer Joe inside. Nile gives them an amused look as they pass her in the kitchen. Nicky grins back and blows her a kiss, just to tease both her and Joe. 

"Stop flirting with the younger model." Joe says as they continue walking. 

"Hey, I'm an original!" Nile yells after them. 

Joe elbows him gently and Nicky pulls him tighter against him. "She is happy," Joe says, switching to Italian. Nicky hums and nods. "You are happy."

"I am always happy with you." Their bedroom door finally closes behind them and Nicky starts to strip. 

"No, no." Joe gives a shake of his head. He throws himself on the bed to watch Nicky shed each piece of clothing. Nicky's eyes catch on Joe's fingers resting lightly on his stomach where his shirt hiked up. He's not thinking about their conversation anymore, wondering instead if he should put off the shower right now. "This is a different happy," Joe continues, ignoring the effect he's having on Nicky and yet Nicky still stands there and waits. "This is different happy then I-Love-You-Yusuf happy. I am very familiar with that version of happy."

"Yusuf."

Joe laughs brightly, clearly delighted with his revelation. "Oh my dear Nicolo, you love being the big brother, don't you?" The warmth in his gaze makes Nicky flush but Nicky looks straight back, awestruck by Joe's easy insight. "My sweet man. Go shower," Joe nudges. "I promise to wait right here."

Nicky hesitates before moving quickly to kiss him, catching one of Joe's hands and entwining their fingers. "Why don't you join me instead?"


End file.
